My thoughts on the Phillies season.

The Phils hang on to win a high scoring game with the World Champs as they defeat the Cardinals, 10-9.

The Phils hold on to defeat the World Champs in a high scoring game, as they defeat the Cardinals, 10-9.

The Phils took the lead in the first as, with the bases loaded, via a double by Placido Polanco, a walk by Hunter Pence and Carlos Ruiz being hit by a pitch, moving both Polanco and Pence up a base, and with one man out, Shane Victorino hits into an RBI force out, 3-6, scoring Polanco from third, while wiping out Ruiz at second base for the Phils’ second out of the inning, as he beat out the throw to first, giving the Phils a 1-0 lead, while sending Pence on to third base. The Phils then took a 2-0 lead as Ty Wigginton hits an RBI single, knocking in Pence, while sending Victorino up to second base. Two batters later, after John Mayberry, Jr. walks to reload the bases, moving both runners up a base, the Phils took a 4-0 lead as Freddy Glavis hits a two-run single, knocking in both Victorino and Wigginton, while sending Mayberry over to third base. The Phils then made it a 6-0 lead in the second as, with runners on the corners, and with two men out, Victorino hits a two-run double, knocking in Pence, who was earlier safe at first on a force out, 6-4, wiping out at second base Jimmy Rollins, who had started the inning off with a single, then stopped at third on Ruiz’s single, and Ruiz, who had just singled. The Cards would then start to chip away at the Phils’ lead in the third as, with runners on the corners, and with one man out, Matt Holliday hits an RBI ground out, 6-3, scoring Jake Westbrook, who had started the inning off with a single, then stopped at third base on Skip Schumaker’s double, making it a 6-1 Phils’ lead. The Cards then made it a 6-2 Phils’ lead as Carlos Beltran hits an RBI single, scoring Schumaker, before he would move up to second base on Ruiz’s missed catch error on Victorino’s throw to the plate. David Freese then made it a 6-3 Phils’ lead as he hit an RBI double, scoring Beltran. The Cards then cut the Phils’ lead down to 6-4 as Yadier Molina hits an RBI single, knocking in Freese, before he would go on to second base on the late throw to the plate. The Phils increased their lead in the fifth as, with two men on, and with two men out, Polanco hits an RBI single, scoring Galvis, who was safe at first on a 6-4 force out, as Mayberry, who had been safe at first on a throwing error by third baseman Freese, was wiped out at second base, and then moved up to second base on Rollins’ single, giving the Phils a 7-4 lead, while sending Rollins, who had just singled, on to third base. The Cards would get the run back in their half of the fifth as Holliday smashed a lead-off home run, his tenth home run of the season, making it a 7-5 Phils’ lead. Two batters later, with one man on, and with one man out, Molina tied the game up at seven-all as he crushed a two-run bomb to center field, his eighth home run of the year, knocking in Freese, as he was safe at first on a 6-5 force out, as Beltran, who had earlier doubled, is thrown out trying to go to third on Freese’s ground ball to short. The Phils retook the lead in the sixth as, with two men on, and with two men out, Galvis hits an RBI single, scoring Victorino, who had earlier singled, then stopped at second base on Wigginton’s single, giving the Phils an 8-7 lead, while sending Wigginton, who had just singled, up to second base. The Phils then took a 9-7 lead as pinch hitter Mike Fontenot hits an RBI single, knocking in Wigginton, while sending Galvis up to second base. The Cards would get a run back in the seventh as, with two men out, Freese hits a solo shot into left center field, his tenth home run of the year, making it a 9-8 Phils’ lead. The Phils would get that run back in the eighth as, with one man out,Wigginton hits a solo home run, his third home run of the season, giving the Phils a 10-8 lead. The Cards would get that run back in their half of the eighth as, with runners on the corners, and with one man out, Schumaker hits a sacrifice fly, scoring Steven Hill, who had started the inning off with a double, then stopped at third base on Rafael Furcal’s single, making it a 10-9 Phils’ lead. That would end up being the final score as Jonathan Papelbon recorded his thirteen save of the year with a scoreless ninth, getting Hill to fly out to center field for the game’s final out.

Joe Blanton received a no-decision as he went four and a third innings, giving up seven runs for his second straight start, this time on ten hits and a walk, while he struck out five. Raul Valdes got the win (1-0, 0.00) as he pitched two-thirds of an inning, getting out both men that he would face, as he struck out one. Chad Qualls collected his ninth hold of the season, as he pitched an inning and two-thirds, giving up a run on two hits, while he struck out one. Jake Diekman recorded his first career hold as he went a third of an inning, getting out the only man that he would face. Antonio Bastardo recorded his tenth hold of the season as he pitched an inning, giving up a run on two hits and a walk, while striking out two. Jonathan Papelbon recorded his thirteenth save of the season as he threw a scoreless inning, giving up a hit, as he struck out a batter. Jake Westbrook also got a no-decision as he went just three and two-thirds innings, giving up six runs on eight hits, three walks and a hit batter, while he struck out four. Brandon Dickman pitched an inning and a third, giving up an unearned run on two hits, as he struck out one. Fernando Salas (0-3, 6.32) took the lost as he pitched an inning, giving up two runs on four hits, as he struck out a batter. Victor Marte pitched one and two-thirds innings, giving up a run on three hits, while striking out three. Mitchell Boggs pitched one and a third scoreless innings, giving up a hit.

The Phils had a season high eighteen hits in the game, with Placido Polanco (2 Singles, Double, RBI), Carlos Ruiz (Singles), Ty Wigginton (2 Singles, Home Run, 2 RBIs) and Freddy Galvis (2 Singles, Double, 3 RBIs) all leading the team with three hits a piece, followed by Jimmy Rollins (Singles) and Shane Victorino (Single, Double, 3 RBIs) with two hits each. Pinch hitters Mike Fontenot (Single, RBI) and Pete Orr (Single) had the other two Phils’ hits. The Phils also had three walks in the game, as the offense was last night able to scored runs, although the pitchers almost let the game get away.

The Phils (23-23, 5th East) will continue their four-game series with the Cards (25-20, 2nd Central) with a night game tonight. The game will start at 8:15 pm EDT (7:15 pm CDT) and will be played at Busch Stadium (III). The Phils will send to the mound Cliff Lee (0-2, 2.66) who is coming off a lost to the Red Sox on May 20, as he threw seven innings, giving up five runs on nine hits and a walk, as he struck out six, in the Phils’ 5-1 lost. He will be out to win his first start of the season. The Cards will counter with Kyle Lohse (5-1, 2.91), who is coming off a no-decision against the Dodgers on May 20, as he threw five and two-thirds innings, giving up three runs on eleven hits and a walk, while striking out four, in the Cards’ 6-5 lost. He will be trying to put the Cards back into first place in the NL Central. The Phils will be out to give Lee his first victory of the season.

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